Home > Consumer Reviews > Garmin Nuvi 865 Traffic Satellite Navigation System - Full EU Mapping

Garmin Nuvi 865T Satellite Navigation System - Full EU MappingHaving owned a TomTom 910 Go for a couple of years I needed a new GPS for my wife's car. I considered the TomTom 940 Live but having read the reviews on Amazon decided against the TomTom. It reminded me that TomTom has a habit of releasing models before they are ready. In the case of my 910 the bracket did not work and there was a problem with the software requiring me to return my first unit for replacement. Also the TMC aerial did not function and subsequently the unit would not switch itself off after the engine had stopped, requiring that the unit be switched off manually. So I decided to purchase the Garmin Nuvi 865T.

Likes:
everything works
attractive unit
easy to set up
excellent bracket
voice recognition works well although I cannot easily get it to understand the word "Tools"
lane advisories are excellent
excellent display

Dislikes:
unlike the TomTom one cannot manage the unit via a pc
I would have additionally liked to have a remote control
the voice is slightly synthetic unlike the TomTom
less POI's than TomTom

Overall I am pleased I chose the Garmin over the TomTom and would not see myself returning to a TomTom. For me the most important aspect of GPS ownership is reliability and this is where I believe Garmin beats TomTom hands down.

My previous Sat Nav was a Tom Tom which I received as a gift a couple of years back. I knew there must be better performing Sat Navs available so I looked at the Garman range among others.
This 865t has proved to be the perfect choice. It's good to look at, easy to use, and full of features.

I resisted the urge to use the unit immediately and opted to go online and register it.
At this point you are given the option of a free map upgrade. It is possible to do this later but I decided to go ahead. The new data was almost 3GB in size and by the time I had finished the upgrade it took about around 45 minutes. I also used this opportunity to activate the Road traffic camera database and download some free POI s from the Garmin website.

In use the unit is vey easy to use. You can either use the touch screen or the voice recognition feature. It has the same voice as my wife's Ford Fiesta. It doesn't take too much effort and before long you appreciate what an excellent feature it is. So much safer than trying to operate the unit, via hand, while driving. I love telling it to go home.

The route instructions are clear with no confusion and the street names spoken out as well. I now know names of roads that I didn't realize had a name until now.

The other feature worthy of note is the live traffic update. The power supply doubles up as a FM receiver bringing live traffic reports to the screen which you can then choose to avoid. When calculating a route this is automatically factored in..
All in all I highly recommend this Garmin 865t

Great excitement when this SatNav arrived. Spent a happy evening checking out all functionality and testing in the car ready for journey on the next day.
That's when everything started to unravel:
- Did not start up until I removed and replaced the battery
- Froze during the journey so we missed routing - only resolution was to remove and replace battery again
- Sounds (including route instructions) failed completely
Also felt that screen was not very clear, especially in 2D view.
Returned to Amazon on day 4 and have received confirmation of full refund.
I have since purchased TomTom Go 730 and have been thrilled with it!
(since this saga have received email from Garmin about Firmware update due to solve exactly the problems I was experiencing, but too late for me)

Recommended by Which especialy for hands free, I replaced my clunky old Sony nav in high expectation for a drive to France.
First the woman's voice, clear and precise in English, is incomprehensible in French street names: mumble in fear of French.
There is no show route button or command. To see what route the machine is using one has to keep pressing buttons on the map. I need to check that the route offered is what I want.
The machine does lots of perpheral things I dont want which must take up memory because when I want a long route off motorways it says not enough memory.
May be ok for simple motorway journeys. But I want a sat nav to give me a reliable off motorway option
I am going back to my clunky old Sony.

I've upgraded my GPS from a Nuvi 670 to the Nuvi 865t and the change is definitely well worth it. The additional features of route planning and saving is something I missed when I changed from Tom Tom to Garmin a few years ago. I am particularly impressed with the voice activation. I thought before purchase that this feature would require much voice recognition training but it works extremely well and seems to recognise most commands first time. Tried using it in pedestrian mode around Manchester and it struggled a bit but overall this is a brilliant GPS